Starting the weekend off strong, Coastal Carolina swept Old Dominion, 3-0, in the first of a two-game volleyball series Friday night at the HTC center.
The opening set was scrappy, but Coastal quickly found their rhythm.
Outside hitter Anzley Rinard set the tone by delivering an ace on the first serve of the match.
Midway through, Coastal was leading 16-6, forcing Old Dominion to burn through both of their timeouts before ultimately falling 25-16 and ending with 17 kills.
The crowd fed off Coastal’s fast pace and steady control of the court, cheering louder with every kill and dive.
“I love it. I love every game,” said CCU fan Robert Conticchio. “They’re always having fun, no matter what.”
Old Dominion pushed back in the third set, keeping things tight after trailing behind most of the match.
To fight for their lead, Coastal challenged an Old Dominion play that was suspected to be four touches.
After further review by match referees, Coastal lost the challenge.
Nonetheless, Coastal came back and won the final set of the night 25-22.
Middle blocker Anna Rita feels confident going into tomorrow’s game after their clean sweep tonight, ending the match with five kills and only two errors.
“We’re prepared we just have to see what they will do differently and start from the beginning,” Rita said. “We played really well and executed what we wanted to, so I think we just have to keep that.”
CCU is set to play Old Dominion in the second match of the series on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the HTC Center.
